As recent articles and commentaries make clear, Congress and the public remain divided about the best way forward on health care reform. While people of good will may differ on details, is it possible to unite around a common goal: the chance to save lives?

According to a well-publicized Harvard study, nearly 45,000 people in the United States die every year because they lack health insurance. Put in a more positive way, Maryland's delegation to Congress can save almost half a million lives over the next decade, including many here in Baltimore.

The goal of saving lives offers a clear standard against which to weigh our next steps. Which option -- the Senate bill, a pared-down bill, or the status quo -- brings us closest to universal coverage? Which best reduces the barriers to care, such as job loss, a pre-existing condition or lack of wealth, that can determine who lives and dies in our current system?

We have before us a chance to save lives.

Brooke McDonald, Baltimore

The writer is associate regional director of the American Friends Service Committee.

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